Lost in all the bad news from Fisker this week was the announcement that on Monday morning, the first electric sedan from CODA was driven off the company’s assembly line in Benicia, California and that the CODA car is now for sale, after considerable delay.
Pop quiz; what do increased production, lots of cash on the hood and high gas prices mean for Honda dealers? Lots of Civics moving out the door.
Toyota COO Jim Lentz will be getting a new role – CEO of Toyota Motor Sales North America. The announcement was buried in a press release announcing other management changes at Toyota’s stateside operations.
Volvo has had a big news day today, with reports of a major celebrity endorsement for China, a new design department head in Sweden and a possible plant for North America.
The repeated stoppages of the Volt production triggered rumors that GM might discontinue the Volt altogether.
Dan Akerson himself had to come to the rescue of the embattled plug-in. Saying that “we are not backing away from this product,” Akerson promised more advertising and less volume. So far, so good.
Then, Akerson did something really bad. Surprisingly, Akerson used Toyota as a benchmark and reportedly said that “Toyota sold about the same amount of Prius in its first year as the Volt in its first year.”
Utter nonsense. (Read More…)
As one of the few people who doesn’t hate the direction Lotus is going in, the news that development of Lotus’ entire lineup has been suspended is disheartening. It seems that the Malaysian government is looking to unload their stake in Proton, parent company of Lotus.
The Chevy Volt has probably been the most over-reviewed vehicle of modern times. You want some insights on a Volt? Go here, here, and here without ever leaving the homely confines of TTAC.
Then there are hundreds of reviews from other sites throughout the web and beyond. From Mommy blogs to the more conventional auto enthusiast locales, the Volt has been given tons of exposure and tens of millions of dollars in marketing.
Yet it flounders. GM decided to temporarily shut down the Hamtramck factory so that demand and supply can begin to balance themselves out. What happened? Did GM shoot right past the goal of mainstream tastes? Did the irrational exuberance of corporate marketeers transform the promise of the Volt into little more than a cynical plea for corporate funding?
I don’t believe the Volt deserves that much credit, or criticism. If you want to explore the strengths and shortcomings of the Volt, just look at the car for what it is.
China has become famous for its golden and pink cars. Now, there is some kind of a backlash. Or maybe word of Jack Baruth’s lime green Audi S5 has reached China? Can’t possibly drive an Audi S5 in gold, pink, or lime green in China after Jack’s frog-colored Audi was flogged on eBay. Even China has some standards. Instead of Audis in garish colors, there now are black and white Audis. “So what?” you say. I said black and white Audis. (Read More…)
A drunk man who was talking on his cell phone caused a three-car pile-up near Chicago, and he wasn’t even driving.
According to the Chicago Tribune, a 31-year-old intoxicated, and, to make matters worse, cell phone using man crossed Warrenville Road in Naperville, IL, after having visited a bar. Then, all hell broke loose. (Read More…)
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating the principals of a private equity firm that has raised a significant amount of the private financing for Fisker Automotive, says Crain’s Chicago Business. Though nothing on the public record has tied the investigation with Fisker, the National Legal and Policy Center, a politically right of center think tank, points out that the commission has recommended administrative proceedings “in connection with a private offering in 2009”. Advanced Equities has been raising private investment funds for Fisker since at least 2009. They established Clean Tech LLC in 2010, which is 40% invested in Fisker, and in Feb. 2011, they invested an additional $150 million in the automaker. (Read More…)
Americans have never had many choices for front-wheel-drive pickup trucks; you could make your own by dropping a random pickup bed on a Sawzall-ized Sentra, or you could go with an Omnirizon-based Dodge Rampage or a Golf-based VW Caddy. Not many Rampages or Rabbit pickups left, though I did find this ’80 VW in a Denver junkyard last year. Now here’s another one, apparently quite unrusted, getting ready to be eaten by The Crusher. (Read More…)
There used to be a long line of cars going in the direction of my childhood home.
My mom, bless her heart, used to observe the speed limits with enough zeal to make Ralph Nader blush. “Do we drive 25 miles per hour? No! We drive 20. That way we are always obeying the law!” Needless to say, I have managed to steer free and clear of her driving habits for well over 20 years. She thinks I’m a control freak… when the truth is she’s just too damn slow.
The slow issue got me thinking about speed limits back in the bad old days of the 1980’s. Between reading various auto magazines at the back of my high school classes, I used to daydream about a better society. Not about serving your fellow man or envisioning world peace. But one where drivers like my mom would just get the hell out of my way. One where the observance of all motoring laws would be based on reason and logic, rather than the short-term needs of a ravenous revenue seeking police state.
A beautiful driving utopia where asphalt and heavier right feet would march in unison towards a quicker commute. Where speed limits would be anywhere between 10 mph to 20 mph higher than today’s superficially low limits. Where a speed limit would indeed become a speed limit.
Over the last couple of weeks, your favorite travel agent has taken you on trips to Belarus, Eritrea, Chile and Georgia (mmm, am I really your favorite travel agent? I’m getting a little worried…). But you only have yourselves to blame: bFor the third week I’m only taking you where you asked to go. And today the destination is Myanmar (aka Burma). Why? Because SexCpotatoes (I really like your nick!) asked for it. I know, I know, it’s the 2nd time we follow SexCpotatoes suggestion, but no-one said you could only ask for one country!
Now if Myanmar is the last of your worries and you’d rather go to Malaysia this week, that’s absolutely fine because I have prepared 159 additional countries for you to explore in my blog. So don’t be shy and click away!
Of course Myanmar being the closed country we all know, there is no official sales data available.
But that’s when the fun begins! Or so I thought…
Picture courtesy mystarcollectorcar.com
We like to draw readers in with our titles, so the logical question is “what’s completely different about a 60 Chevy?” The 60 Chevy was in a Bob Seeger song. How unique can it really be?
That’s a fair question, but the answer is really obvious. This is a right-hand drive car and it’s been in South Africa since Day 1. Besides that, the 60 Chevy 4-door hardtop isn’t something you see in a Safeway parking lot every Saturday. With all due respect to Mr. Seeger – it’s a rare sighting. (Read More…)
When I started working for (not at) Volkswagen in the 70s, they talked about adding many brands, all the way “from MAN trucks to a motorcycle.” 40 years later, Volkswagen finally has MAN. And it might soon have that motorcycle wish fulfilled. (Read More…)
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